There was a sour taste left in the mouths of many when middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez boxed to a 12-round split-draw Sept. 16 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Fans will find out May 5 if the second time around will erase that and give them something sweet to talk about years down the road, as Golovkin and Alvarez will tangle in a much-wanted rematch.

The second go-round was announced as a done deal Monday. The site is still to be determined, but it’s been thought that T-Mobile and Madison Square Garden are the front-runners to host, with AT&T Stadium near Dallas the dark horse.

It will be televised on HBO pay-per-view.

Many ringside reporters had Golovkin winning a close fight the first time; the draw allowed him to retain his three titles. But the scoring was spoiled when judge Adalaide Byrd gave Alvarez the nod by an absurd 118-110 count.

“I’m delighted to once again participate in one of the most important boxing events in history,” said Alvarez, 27. “This second fight is for the benefit and pleasure of all fans who desire to see the best fight the best. This time, Golovkin won’t have any excuses regarding the judges because I’m coming to knock him out.”

Alvarez moved more than he usually does in the first fight. The consensus feeling was that if he stood toe-to-toe with Golovkin, he’d get knocked out because Golovkin (37-0-1, 33 KOs) has such a high knockout ratio.

If Alvarez does come to try and knock out Golovkin this time, Abel Sanchez would love that. Sanchez, a West Covina native, trains Golovkin in Big Bear.

“There were moments in the first fight where he (Alvarez) was effective when he stood his ground, made it more of an interesting fight for the fans,” Sanchez said during a telephone conversation from Russia, where Saturday he will train Murat Gassiev against Yunier Dorticos in a cruiserweight title fight. “I would hope that in the next fight, he does that a little bit more.”

Great fighters take risks, Sanchez intimated. That’s what he wants from Alvarez.

“Obviously, by doing that, he’s going to put himself in peril; it’s a 12-round fight,” Sanchez said. “So, hopefully, they get into exchanges where they hit each other and we have for an interesting fight where somebody lands a good shot and makes the fans stand on their feet and it’s that kind of fight we’re going to remember, that we thought we were going to get the first time.”

Sanchez believes the onus is on Alvarez to try hard to make this a good fight “because Golovkin tried the last time.”

Golovkin, 35, of Kazakhstan, can’t wait.

“I am ready to battle Canelo again and am happy he took this fight again,” said Golovkin, who stalked Alvarez in the first fight. “This is the fight the world wants. This is the fight boxing deserves. I didn’t agree with some of the judges’ decisions in the first fight. This time there will be no doubt.”

The fight will be co-promoted by Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions and K2 Promotions.

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